Description
For the first time in English, here is a complete record of all the cars, trucks and buses manufactured over forty years in the German Democratic Republic. The authors have tracked down and pictured, in authentic surroundings, an example of every GDR marque, with each vehicle described by an expert. A truly fascinating voyage of discovery.
Synopsis
We in the West can look back on over 120 years of automotive design and manufacture and plot progress in a virtually continuous linear fashion. However, the post War development of the automotive industry in Eastern Germany is quite a different story. In all parts of the West there was a development break during the Second World War, but after the War the growth of the industry in the two halves of Germany went in different directions for many years. Automotive development in West Germany was aided and abetted by cash and investment from America and the Allies, while, for a time, industry of all types in Eastern Germany suffered a certain amount of asset stripping and disinvestment. There was also a stark contrast between the state-driven production methods in the German Democratic Republic and the market-focused development in the West, which today, two decades after the collapse of the GDR, when they are again on the same economic level, it is hard to imagine.
However, the eventful years of the GDR automotive industry and the vehicles it produced are recorded in this book with neither political or economic considerations nor really with regard to the technical expertise that went into their development, but rather as a celebration of the vehicles themselves. It is a pictorial documentation of over forty years of automotive manufacture in the GDR and as such is the most comprehensive record of these vehicles that has yet been published.
When the Berlin Wall was in place, little was known of the unique motor vehicles which populated the roads of the GDR behind it. Although 'Westerners' got the odd sighting of mystery vehicles, and then a virtual invasion of Trabants in the years immediately following the Wall's demolition, most Europeans have never before had the opportunity to see the plethora of makes and models which abounded in the GDR. Here, for the first time in English, is a complete pictorial record of all the East German cars, trucks and buses. Christian Suhr and Ralf Weinreich have tracked down an example of every GDR marque in their new book, and have taken portraits in authentic surroundings in what was East Germany. Every one of these vehicles is described by a marque expert to ensure accuracy of information. Now automotive enthusiasts of all persuasions can indulge in a truly fascinating voyage of discovery.
Book Details:
Publisher Code: 9781845843083
ISBN 13: 9781845843083
Author: Christian Suhr
Published: 2013
Pages: 224
Dimension: 250x250mm
Soft Cover, colour illustrations
